Film on Werowocomoco released by NPS

Werowocomoco, a new national park being developed in Gloucester County, is the subject of a short film released last week by the National Park Service in conjunction with the Chesapeake Conservancy.

“Werowocomoco: Protecting a Powhatan Place of Power,” premiered at the Virginia Film Festival on Nov. 1 and won the Commonwealth Award for Best Virginia Short Film, said a press release from the NPS. The film is also entered in the upcoming Pocahontas Reframed Film Festival in Richmond.

More than 400 years before English settlers established Jamestown, Werowocomoco was an important Powhatan Indian town, said the release. Werowocomoco, translated from the Virginia Algonquian language, means “place of leadership.” An archaeological site now under the permanent protection of the National Park Service, Werowocomoco is not yet open to the public until planning is completed with American Indian tribes who hold the site as sacred.

“Werowocomoco is a powerful and sacred place in the history of Native people in the Chesapeake Bay region and beyond,” said NPS Superintendent Kym Hall. “We hope that people can experience the significance and beauty of Werowocomoco through this film while NPS and our tribal partners prepare Werowocomoco for visitors.”

Werowocomoco, which was previously owned by Gloucester residents Bob and Lynn Ripley, whose collection of artifacts from the site helped archaeologists identify it, was placed under the permanent protection of the National Park Service in June 2016 as part of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.